WHY THE NEW LIONEL VISION LINE TRIPLEX IS GOING TO SUCK!

[@theprrmainline]

I’ve always wanted a Triplex as well. I wonder if MTH has actually “sold” this tooling (or any of its tooling) to Lionel though. Going back to the original announcements, while Atlas made a press release that identified which tools they bought, Lionel was very tight lipped about it. Maybe they just licensed or “rented” the tools to Lionel for an exclusive time period. Only time will tell that tale.

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

That actually a good point! Plus, MTH was and in my opinion still is Lionel’s biggest competitor. If I owned MTH, I wouldn’t give anything to Lionel.

[@mslickstrains]

I do believe they sold it to them

[@MrStevesTrains]

Yes, Mike Wolf sold off much of the tooling to Lionel and Atlas. MTH today only exists in a small handful of employees that now run and oversee day to day operations. Focusing heavy on custom run work for train outlets.

[@tableseven8133]

I know our economy is bad now, but to me a engine no matter how big or unique it is is pricing the general train hobby market off to the curb. I have recently bought a used double F-7 set both powered for about $300.00 and I was crazy for doing that. I have to invest time and money into my house this week and if it goes well maybe $600 to $1000.00. Spending that much or more on a single engine is nuts....

[@markslioneltrains]

More than a months salery for most folks.! 😲I would be afraid to even pick that BIG thing up for fear of breaking somthing. With that. I will STOP and say no more.🤐

[@mslickstrains]

That is someone’s salary for sure

[@DynamicDuo795]

$3K for a train has got to be the most selfish, inconsiderate, greedy, and immoral thing you could do.

[@DynamicDuo795]

If something happens just remember that Lionel will NOT repair it or even stock parts to be able to keep it running. $2500 junk to waste away sitting on a shelf no hope of ever being able to run ever again. Thats Lionel for ya. Plus if you want wheelslip there's a brutally simple way to get that, just take the traction tires off the engine and you'll have all the wheelslip you'd want. No need to spend $2500 for that feature which most likely will break or fail and will be a nightmare to try to get fixed.

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

Fantastic 🙄

[@mslickstrains]

I agree

[@GinoACosta]

I had to call customer service, yes, but I had a Lionel LEGACY Veranda Turbine engine (I LOVE the yellow and blue Alaska engine I ordered), and the wheel trucks with the motors were off. I called them, send the engine back and got it back without even a charge. Yes, it took some time, but not forever by any means, and it works well now. I heard they run engines being repaired for several hours, testing every feature repeatedly, before sending it back. I truly hope you were able to get your engines serviced. Best of luck always!!

[@JohnHuntt]

Thanks for the information about Lionel. Sorry to hear about the bad report. That make me appreciate the MTH one I have. I hope Lionel will correct this bad reputation. JH

[@gregleuze6657]

I am worried about the direction Lionel has taken with repairing. Only repairing if sent back to Lionel and I don’t believe that they are making parts available. These engines are too much money not to be able to fix them. Certainly me think twice before buying high end engines.

[@99thObsidian]

I agree with you and was introduced to the Triplex at a club meet too. I ended up getting a Railking version since I didnt have a o72 loop at the time. Your points about the lack of the steam features does make it Legacy, not Visionline. Not worth 2.3k. Disappointed that they made a 701 not 700 Virginian which actually existed. I too like white walls (one of reasons I got a TMCC C&O F19 recently). There should be a few used MTH Triplexes available soon as owners sell to make way for Lionel version.

[@mslickstrains]

Agreed

[@jebbthetrainkid1281]

MTH Tooling at an astronomical price. It will never be as good as MTH. Lionel always finds ways to shortcut the Buyer. Poor Chinese Quality Control. If I wanted a Tri Plex I'd find an MTH used one or new old stock. Lionel is getting out of hand with their prices.

[@mslickstrains]

Agreed

[@GaryGoldbaugh]

And why support the evil chicoms

[@MrStevesTrains]

No worries, lol 😆 I’m a MTH Fan Boy too!

[@asdfdsa45]

My personal belief when it comes to these very heavy, diecast models is that they rubber traction tires need to be gotten rid of. The 2-rail scale people do not have traction tires and why do 3-rail scale persist in having them? Let the wheels slip, like the real thing and like our old toy trains.

[@JohnHuntt]

Your title about the Lionel Tripel caught my eye. I find your information informational. The cost of 2400 dollars is much higher than I paid for my MTH one. Your cost comparison is warranted. But I do find in what said that the Lionel one has is an improvement over the MTH. The white wall tires, steam whistle, better sound, wheel slip and not enough steam features could be warranted. I am sad to see MTH selling the tooling is a bad move. Because of the popular interest in the Triplex, I think MTH could have used there tooling to make the improvements you talked about. I find fault with the MTH, in that when I use the mega chuffing it slows down and cause other things not work. I do think you are a little hard on Lionel on your criticism, but you did say you are opionated and I understand that. I myself is MTH fan. JH

[@mslickstrains]

Thanks for watching

[@GoldStandardTrains]

My first reaction was disappointment when they announced these. I do enjoy unique steam engines, but I could have sworn Lionel said the next VL model was going to be something never before done in O scale(maybe they meant a feature never before done with the wheel slip). I considered the Super set being the pre-order prices for what you get are pretty good. But after much thought and seeing where Lionel is going with there warranty and after warranty service and parts availability, I am actually going to pass on the Trip-plex. I have 2 VL engines and 1 Legacy engine I have to repair and it is not easy. I am having a harder and harder time justifying purchasing Legacy and VL engines knowing they could become paperweights after the 1 year warranty.

[@mslickstrains]

I totally agree with you. It’s sad

[@Cactusfruitsquisher]

A lot of us can’t afford the VL models and a lot of us don’t want rinky dink little toys. There should be a big line of affordable scale models with decent features and compatibility with other price point models. I don’t understand why you have to choose between horribly expensive scale models, boring ugly toy-like cheapies, or old hardly functional models that you have to spend a fortune upgrading. None of which can really reasonably function together. It’s infuriating. Other scales are great but they’re not my thing and it’s impossible to invest money into something you don’t truly want to have. Not all of us are retired boomers with more cash than time left to spend on these insultingly expensive things. I don’t want to hear anyone complain about this hobby dying. Companies like Lionel killed it.

[@harryhenninglll117]

Unfortunately the triplex is not a need to have one for me. I bought an MTH one that had blown out boards cheap $150. and put a modern legacy board in and don't need all the extra things like wheel slip or the extra price.

[@Shipwright1918]

Scale stuff is neat, but honestly I wish Lionel would put some investment back into traditional O, not everybody's got a giant layout and a giant wallet to match. Wouldn't mind seeing a return of the Lionel Lines road-name instead of all the pop culture paint. Makes me all the happier that I went to Menards.

[@mslickstrains]

Menards is good stuff. You might be interested in mth railking as well

[@Shipwright1918]

Like 'em a lot, most of my modern-era engines are Railking and I've a few cars that are as well. Williams is another one I like, have a few diesels and a steamer by them.

[@DynamicDuo795]

Instead of buying Menards crap just buy MTH Railking items. Far better quality, DCS PS3, etc, for a cheap price.

[@alexanderpoirier3350]

I would like to add that in my humble opinion Lionel is focusing way too much on these high-end locomotives as well as the many “fantasy” schemes they have made for both scale and traditional lines. I love the old Lionel catalogues as they did have some whimsy to them like aliens and Looney Tunes but they mostly focused on real actual verified railway lines (and the sharp Lionel Lines as well) and produced beautiful-looking sets that caught people’s eyes, myself included. I want Lionel to go back to that. In addition, while I like their LionChief system and have an 0-8-0 (a rare undecorated model with the number #99 on it) I find they are going overboard with their LionChief Plus 2.0 line. Way too many features, extremely high cost, etc. These are toys and do not need so many features (like smoke for diesels). I want to see engines like the NW2 with calf make a comeback as simple LionChief, or the RSC/RSD Alcos, Train Masters…hell, even their F units need to be made simpler! LionChief brings back some of that whimsy of running toy trains and LionChief Plus allows for more slighty better models with more features. But LionChief Plus 2.0? Way too over-the-top for me. Also, undecorated units and Canadian paint schemes. I would love to see a Canadian railways LionChief set be produced and undecorated units to allow modellers the ability to custom paint their own units.

[@charlesbrown959]

MTH has done more for model trains than electricity.

[@tobyyoder8350]

Lionel said that the Tender will not have traction tires

[@DynamicDuo795]

All you really have to do if you really want that unnecessary wheel slip feature is to take off the traction tires instead of spending an insane amount of money like that.

[@MUEagle2002]

I'm not interested in the triplex. But as a guy into western roads l wish engines like a SP 2-10-2 or an Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 would be made. Us Western guys are starving.

[@legotech7268]

This is why I am a ho scale guy Lionel has almost a monopoly on o gauge/scale models at least in ho scale with all the manufacturers if I don’t like one brands locomotives I can probably fans a better one from a different manufacturer. That is why I left o scale this is just a crap model but people will buy it since Lionel is the only one in this industry now.

[@mslickstrains]

Not exactly. Mth still is making models and atlas is also making models

[@legotech7268]

@@mslickstrains true but the market is mainly dominated by lionel and yes atlas and mth still exist it isnt as much competition as in ho scale where we have broadway limited, athaern, scale trains, atlas, bachman, and walthers. There is so much more competition in ho scale we dont have much of that in o gauge there was williams but bachman killed that and k line was bought out by lionel sadly.

[@ShawnBowyer-nz4vj]

Williams by Bachman is good in o gsuge sunset 3rd rail is great atlas is good lionel is just using a nane that was good But neil destroyed it subcontractrating it to china and no qulty control .

[@legotech7268]

@@ShawnBowyer-nz4vj that to but you can’t forget Lionel is the main o guage manufacturer all those other brands aren’t as relevant as Lionel.

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

I miss Weaver, Williams,MTH, And all the other companies that are gone now. Makes me appreciate the purchasees I made since they are no longer available.😢

[@KandRCustomModels]

Don’t jump to conclusion young man! Wait and see! I don’t even like the engine or Erie but I ordered the super set because it is so unique!

[@DynamicDuo795]

You just lost a pile of money buying that set. Guarantee you, that engine will fail.

[@KandRCustomModels]

@@DynamicDuo795 i cancelled order!

[@conductorjohnmthtrains2239]

I can afford but it's not worth it!. #1 tender is fixed to engine, try picking this bitch up & flipping it over for maintence😂. Better have 090 curves or overhang will suck.Legacy steam works fine & way affordable. I'd rather buy 6 diesels for $2400. Lionel is f'n nuts. Triplex is a PILE

[@RAK402]

I too am a bit disappointed that Lionel has the tooling. I have found, over the years, that MTH PS2 and PS3 electronics are much more reliable than Legacy. Could just be luck of the draw for me, but I have not had good luck with Legacy (I love the sound though).

[@mslickstrains]

That’s spot on

[@UncleSalty-nz5uk]

I would buy this engine from MTH, not lionel. It will be cheapened and overpriced 😢

[@mslickstrains]

I agree

[@DynamicDuo795]

Well, the nightmare has finally arrived in stores now. It's all a waiting game now. Won't be long before those phone calls start going out and people crying over loosing $2400. You knew the risks, you knew that their products are horrible and yet you bought one anyways. Kind of hard to feel bad for you. Good luck to all of you.

[@mslickstrains]

@@DynamicDuo795 are they really that bad?

[@DynamicDuo795]

My Lionel repair guy said that the wheelslip feature won't hold up and that the extra motor that's used to operate that feature is just more parts that can go wrong. He said he personally doesn't want people who ordered it to start bothering him with fixing it. You can't get the parts to fix them. Just find an MTH version and be happy with that.

[@mslickstrains]

@@DynamicDuo795 that’s what I did

[@rail-ryder7135]

I thought of wheel slip feature before.

[@mslickstrains]

Not going to lie I saw the wheel slip video and it is actually kinda cool

[@tonygould9027]

Seems like a Lionel Hater. I think this is an awesome loco! I love the new features that Lionel added to it. They, in a sense, made it their own. Like going into Harley Davidson, buying a bike, taking it home, and buying some extra cool features to make it YOUR signature bike. Lionel kept it looking the same, which looks great, but improving the features under the skin. I have close to 200 locos. Only two of em are MTH. ALL the rest are Lionel locos.

[@DynamicDuo795]

Your comment, 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ShawnBowyer-nz4vj]

No no more Lionel crap 😢

[@Joseph-jq8ve]

IDC I have been waiting eons for Lionel to do this locomotive always wanting to see it now lionel train's is releasing it in vision line heck yeah I'm going to put one on preorder the ultimate in vision line is finally coming out and I'm sooooooo excited

[@solutions2exist556]

For the amount of money Lionel charges should mean smoke and steam/water effects should be coming out of every possible place known to a steam engine including Lionel’s rear end while swinging that bell to match at least two deep bass speakers. But we all know that Lionel charges too much for what effects they leave off. I have bought the Vision Lines stuff for the last five of seven so I guess it will be five of eight. This thing is a dog Lionel. Tired of being overcharged and tired of Lionel not letting the customers vote on what Lionel might produce as a Vision Line engine and what effects to include. Pick three possible engines and let us vote. I will be voting a big “no” on this one Lionel. My pocketbook thanks you Lionel!

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

I heavily disagree with this being made. While the new features on this are enticing, there is still too many problems with their products including the price. Plus their customer service flat out SUCKS.

[@mslickstrains]

I agree with you

[@JohnHuntt]

I did not know that. Sorry to hear that. The cost is prohibitive. JH

[@jseitzjs]

You have no idea what your talking about 4 digit address is a vision line feature that was introduced with the Class A . There will be no traction tires on the tender so when it senses fuel or coal would be deplenished the wheel slip would automatically be activated. Lionel also blows away MTH in sounds . You are obviously an MTH person, and don't know any better. The cost also isn't 2400 it can be obtained for 2k . Get your facts straight

[@mslickstrains]

How much did you preorder yours for?

[@jseitzjs]

@@mslickstrains $2089 that is with shipping

[@mslickstrains]

@@jseitzjs from where

[@jseitzjs]

@@mslickstrains early buy from Charles Ro

[@MrDominick4950]

Well every one is entitled to there own opinion kinda a mixed bag here those who favor MTH and those who favor LIONEL seems like an even split. To those complaining about big scale engines and wishing for trains like your standard O line LIONEL already accommodates you with there LION MASTER tooling along with standard O scale rolling stock to cater to smaller size layouts and tighter curves. So to those complaining about the LEGACY and the VISION LINE series being way to big for your wallet as well as the size your complaints are contradictory!!! To compare both companies they do have or used to have some bad traits and if any complaints should be it should be focused on REPAIR and CUSTOMER SERVICES to both companies.You MTH lovers out there you won’t like to here this but M.WOLF screwed his customers multiple times with the last grand Finale reporting that he was going to close the doors to MTH forever the ultimate back stab!!! So two former employees did not want to die off from the model train business they pooled there money together to keep it going and stay above water at the expense of MTH selling off a big piece of there tooling to the last two companies that are still in business. Yeah hello LIONEL hello ATLAS so now what do you have for over 5 years nothing new has come out these two companies saved a lot of money by producing MTH stock with there name now stamped on it a big saver in cost and as far as engines all LIONEL had to do was install there own electronics and just trying to think up just one more feature and with that each time it justifies a price hike I personally don’t give a rats ass about a swinging bell really OH WOW but a lot of you GEN XERS and MILLENNIALS go nuts over that stuff just like those ridiculous paint jobs they keep trotting out I personally would not give a second look at but that’s me. Case in point the LIONEL TRIPLEX will be painted in a couple of different paint schemes RIO GRANDE,GREAT NORTHERN REALLY ridiculous they never had those engines ERIE was the only road that did and only three at that along with the VIRGINIAN RAILROAD WHICH THEY HAD ONLY ONE and that one had an extra axle at the rear of the tender and that’s it!! LIONEL knows this what ever sells is what they will produce if they can add in another feature then the cost will continue to rise by a few hundred as long as it sells they don’t have to invest in any new tooling for awhile they got most of MTH’S so for you guys that have 200 MTH engines on your shelf and one day it craps out and you need new electronics just send an e-mail to the parts dept. fine pay the price but what happens if those two characters can’t stay above water trying to keep MTH alive what ever is left of it and fold now your shit out of luck but then there is LIONEL with the price tag you buy yourself an ELECTRIC ENGINEER and you up grade to LIONEL COMMAND. So what are you left with you decide maybe your like that one guy who wrote a comment stating that he is not an ERIE RAILROAD fan but he ordered himself a complete ERIE TRIPLEX FREIGHT SET at a cost of $36-3,700.00 bucks and why he said it was unique no doubt you will see it show up in about a year or so for sale posted like ERIE TRIPLEX FREIGHT SET SEALED with the magic word printed “RARE” for a good and fair price $9,995.00 “MINT” !!!!!!!! YOU WANT THE PRICES TO COME DOWN THEN DON’T BY THE PRODUCT IF YOU FEEL ITS WAY TO EXPENSIVE.

[@richardsmith4403]

A waste of KZbin space.

[@mslickstrains]

You don’t have to watch

[@ShawnBowyer-nz4vj]

Is lionel nuts they are way to expencive my Em1 broke the secound day no sound no smoke and wont stay on the track waste of money now it looks good on the shelf.but i want a refund dam it

[@MrDominick4950]

Mr MSlick’s, you are full of contradictions,there is an old adage maybe you heard of it “MISERY ENJOYS COMPANY” do yourself a favor and contemplate on what you have said here and come up with some kind of a solution that will make you happy and try to let go of your cynical mind set. Just sayin HAVE A NICE DAY!!!

[@wolf_among_sheep7875]

Judging a book by its cover “literally”… you’re ranting and being bias, you have contradicted yourself several times, you’re just mad that Lionel bought the tooling but in reality you should be mad at MTH! Who “really sucks” now?! 😂. Visionline Engines have some fine details and features and even Legacy engines sound amazing, MTH has the smoke and some unique engines but I’m not bias towards either Lionel or MTH. Btw I’ll be getting my VL triplex for $2050 ☺️

[@mslickstrains]

Guaranteed Lionel won’t add any extra detail. Have fun paying $2000 for a $1300 engine. Let me know when it breaks

[@wolf_among_sheep7875]

@@mslickstrains I forgot MTH doesn’t break or need repairs 👌 Thanksgiving is around the corner, you should be thankful Lionel & Atlas is holding MTH above water 🤣

[@Craiggg12345]

That’s lower education for you 😂

[@humibugs]

​@mslickstrains Stockyard literally has so many mth repairs in queue that they aren't talking anymore right now lmao